Chandigarh, May 28 (IANS) The Punjab and Haryana High Court Friday adjourned till May 31 the hearing on the bail petition of former Haryana police chief S.P.S. Rathore who has been sentenced to 18 months jail in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case.
After hearing the arguments, Justice Gurdev Singh adjourned the case till May 31 as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) lawyers sought time from the court for filing their reply in connection with Rathore’s appeal.
Rathore’s wife and counsel Abha Rathore had moved the bail petition in the high court Wednesday, a day after a local court sent him to Burail jail in the molestation case.
Abha also filed a revision petition against the court verdict that enhanced Rathore’s sentence to 18 months from the six months given by another court earlier.
Following this, the high court issued notice to the CBI seeking their reply on the bail plea and revision petition moved by Rathore.
‘We could not file the reply today as we were not provided a copy of the petition filed by Rathore. Therefore, the court has given us time till May 31. We are still waiting for the copy,’ Ajay Kaushik, CBI lawyer, told IANS here Friday.
He added: ‘We will file our reply on the bail application and the revision petition and we would also do arguments on merit Monday.’
Rathore, who was arrested Tuesday and sent to jail after he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, has sought bail on medical grounds, saying that he had undergone a heart surgery and required medical attention.
‘We have well-equipped medical facilities and trained doctors in the jail. So this plea, seeking bail on medical grounds, is totally illogical. We will strongly oppose this in the court Monday,’ stated Kaushik.
The high court is closing for summer vacation May 29 for one month and Rathore’s case will be taken up by a vacation bench May 31.
The former Haryana director general of police (DGP) was sent to the Burail jail here Tuesday by the district and sessions court which upheld his conviction in the molestation case by a CBI special court here December last year and enhanced his jail term to 18 months.
Rathore was sentenced to six months’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs.1,000 by the CBI special court. However, he was immediately granted bail then.
Rathore filed a plea in January challenging his conviction by the CBI special court for molesting 15-year-old Ruchika Aug 12, 1990.
